Some Updates...

Sorry that things have been so quiet here. I've been pretty busy lately getting things done. That's a good thing. But a fast-paced schedule rarely leaves time for reflection, poetry, jokes and the like.

Here's a brief overview of what's going on, these days...

-On July 1, I'm joining a gym. I've found one near my house that I like and it's pretty cheap. ($45 for three months.) And it's open in the evenings. Until 9pm. So, that means I can get home from work, change clothes, go work out for an hour and then go home and get in bed at a decent hour. I'm talking to a few buddies of mine to see if they want to join too and become workout buddies. I think that this will be easier with some buddies. Also, this gym has a pool and that's a BIG draw for me. I miss swimming.

-Plans proceed apace for the NY performance of "Sickest Stories". Currently, the lineup for the show is me, greg, harz, gilmour and shaun himmerick. That's right. One of the show's founders is going to do the show with us. We've been trying to book him since the show reopened. But it's not easy when he's in London, most of the time. We're also considering adding a 6th seat at the table to welcome a "New York" celebrity type. That might be fun. AND it might help to draw audience for us. We want a decent-sized audience for the show.

-I'm also booking up the rest of the year of the shows. I think I've found a guy who jabs metal spikes into his body to play with a nursing student who has scooped brain matter out of a guy's skull with her finger. In the same show. Consider my mind to be blown.

-We've also secured a nice fund-raiser for the SFS crew. It'll be two days of hard work, next weekend, but the end result should be paid-for hotels and cheaper airflights for everyone involved. A worthy trade for two days of hard work. Harz and I are confirmed for that gig. And I'll actually be working with my good buddy, Jenn K. So, that will be nice.

In any case, don't look for me, next weekend. I'm pretty solidly booked.

-We will also have 2 FOR 1's available at the Gay Pride Parade Day on the 28th and 29th. Greg and I have come up with a very exciting, very dirty, absolutely horrible way to give away the 2 FOR 1's at the street fair. I think that the point is that we'll be distributing a shit-ton of 2FOR1's and some comps and hopefully that will help boost ticket sales for a moderately successful show. Full houses are better to play for, anyways.

-The Piccolini's (by which I mean the members of Piccolo Theater in Evanston, IL) have approached me about hosting/performing in the first show of their upcoming season. It's called their "Vaudeville/Vixens" show and will rehearse for 5 - 6 weeks and then perform for 4-5 weeks. There's a small stipend for the work. Which is nice. I like being a paid performer. But even more rewarding, is getting to help this smart, vibrant, exciting company create the first show of this type, in their repertoire. John, the artistic director of the company, is a great guy. A very warm, smart, funny guy, who also just happens to be an amazingly physical performer onstage. (I saw their commedia show, "Lust, Lies & Marriage" and I absolutely could not connect the character onstage with the man that I met offstage. That's called virtuoso acting, kids.) So, I am very excited to be working with those guys. I think we'll make some funny, exciting, sexy comedy together.

- Regarding being a paid actor: I think I've decided not to be a free performer anymore. Theater companies that I currently work with, i.e. "Stinger", "Sickest Stories", etc., will be grandfathered into this new deal, but future theater companies will have to pay me to work for them. It can be a gratuity of 20 - 40 bucks, one time only, for a full run. The amount is always negotiable. But the point is not. The point is ... What I do onstage has value. People can charge money and audiences will see it and enjoy it. And that's a marketable commodity.

If I don't start putting a monetary value on it, nobody else will. So, it's time to be a paid performer on the Chicago stages.

-I heard back from the Hawaii Improv Festival and they don't have any sort of budget to compensate anyone to travel to them. And with $800 plane tickets and hotels at unforseeable prices, it looks like that particular trip is not going to happen.
That's all right. I can try again, some other time. Besides, it's a little presumptuous to assume that I'll get to visit Florida, New York City, Toronto and Hawaii all in the same year. I guess I can focus my attention on a trip to Portland now.

- After applying for multiple festivals this year, I've also come upon a class or two that I feel like I would be available to teach at Improv Festivals. The class that I really want to push is "A Complete Overview of Modern Improv In Less Than 45 Minutes". The other class that I want to offer is "Basic Techniques of Acting" and I could also offer a course on "The Current State of Chicago Improv". I think the first two would get some definite response at festivals. We shall see.

- Big transitions on the horizon for my workplace. Some of them could really shake things up here. Nothing I can discuss, but I am positive that my position will be affected. So, I'm a little nervous about all of that. More info coming, when I am cleared to discuss it.

Merrily We Roll Along,

Mr.B

A Vaudeville Troupe from the early 1900's.